REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (17-3, 9-2 SCIAC) found themselves down 12 in the second half against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Wednesday night in a Division III showdown. But a defensive fueled run led them to a come from behind 70-65 win inside Currier Gym as they moved into second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings.
The Bulldogs were down eight, 13-5, in the first four minutes before Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.), Donovan Ware (Palmdale, CA), and Dayvon Gates (Carson, CA) combined for seven straight to get UR within one less than two minutes later.
At the 12:55 mark Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) had a tip-in followed by four Kendrick Currey (Manteca, CA) free throws giving Redlands their largest lead of the half at three, 18-15.
Redlands led down under four minutes to play before the Stags went back in front. This advantage they would maintain the remainder of the half, despite Currey scoring four of the final five points for the Bulldogs to reduce the deficit to two, 38-36, at the break.
After five minutes of play to begin the second half the Bulldogs had scored just four points and found themselves down 12, 52-40.
Over the next eight minutes Redlands would methodically come back to take the lead, 55-54, after Chozen Amadi (Dallas, TX) hit a three. During this stretch Redlands would force eight turnovers and commit only three during the run.
The forced turnovers off their full court press continued for the Maroon and Grey after taking the lead with Currey scoring twice on the fastbreak to extend the lead to five, 59-54, forcing the Stags to take a timeout.
CMS, however, used their experience to score six points in :40 seconds to close the gap to one, 63-62, with 4:17 still to play. The Bulldogs did not lose focus though, responding with a 7-0 run of their own that put the game away.
Currey led the way with 23 points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals, and a block. Defensively Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA) was all over the place with five rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. On the glass Gordon had a career-high and the second highest single-game rebounding total in program history with 20. He finished one off the record held by Chuc Blair and Perry Bellaire from 1968 and 1989.
The tough games do not end here as the Bulldogs host No. 20 and first place California Lutheran University this Saturday, February 8 at 7:00 p.m.
